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Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Chaos Rough Riders, 100th post

Charge! Finished building the 20 rough riders last night, aside from a couple extra accessories like melta bombs for the squad leaders which I think I'll add after painting. At first I didn't think I'd like the spear on the back look, but with a desire for different looks (ie not everyone with hunting lance in right hand) it's grown on me. While officially RRs only have pistol OR CCW (in addition to the lance), I think they look better having both available, will just have to remember myself and remind my opponent.

Second group of five (for the first group, see HERE). In addition to the normal variety pack of Chaos heads, included a couple from the new Space Wolf kit. I couldn't resist throwing a beakie in, and the guy in the middle bears a resemblance to a certain Cimmerian so should make a good barbarian.

Second from right is another SW (scout) head with a little hair trim, and a Catachan head to help the tie-in with the other Catachan figs and parts in the army.

Last batch. Second from left has a beastmen arm for the lovely spiked club and a CSM termie lord head. First on right has the Catachan medic head, looked kind of creepy and post-apoc with the mask and goggles look, so on it went.

Closer pics to follow, sorry for the blur on some.

A couple of tips from my own trial-and-error that may help others who may want to do something similar:

The left arms provided are just single-pose, intended for the shields. Hand swaps can add variety, and other arms can be added by cutting through the arm at a similar point and attaching under the shoulder armor. The guy with two axes is an example of this.

Scout, Catachan and Marauder heads seem to fit fine, but the Chaos Warrior and SM/CSM type heads have larger necks, requiring some trimming. On the earlier ones I completely chopped the neck and used a small greenstuff ball to replace, but on the later ones I just trimmed and reattached the neck - cut off a small area above the rounded bit at the bottom and set it aside, then trim off the rest of the neck. Glue in the rounded area and glue the head on top. It can also help to trim off the raised area on the rider's back to help the head settle in.

When attaching different things sometimes you may need to trim off some of the studs and spikes. Even if building as regular marauders for example, the studs on the side of the bridle need to be trimmed off for the horned horse-head to fit properly.

Next up on the agenda are the Chaos Ogryn. Ten of them, or nine plus a minotaur bone'ead if I like how that looks. Then a couple of vehicles and I'll be ready to paint the core force.

This also marks my 100th post! Rather than repeat myself, I'll just provide a link to reiterate my THANKS from my anniversary post a couple of months ago.

I'll also suggest a few links for a "highlight reel" of older posts newer readers may have overlooked:

Judging by the comments, my most popular effort to date, a parody of Darkwynn's "Leafblower" retirement missive. Also check out a half-serious look at 40K names.

An older piece about why to play Chaos that needed a new home when my old forum closed down, previously referenced by Gav Thorpe on his blog when he talked about the Chaos 4.0 codex. While I think he read a little bit into it, see what you think.

While not a post per se, if you'd like to check out some pics of my completed armies, check my Dakka gallery. The links sometimes get fidgety apparently, so if you have trouble just search for "sonsoftaurus" in the gallery there and they'll come up.

Congratulations on 100 posts. Excellent work, and here's to the next 100.

I absolutely love these rough riders, and you've inspired me to create a small Kill Team faction for my Arrugginiti (the last thing I need is yet another entire army). Thanks for the ideas, more than a few of which I intend to borrow.

I'm mulling over some of the painting details, deciding whether to keep the horses in more traditional colors, or to branch out more to represent 1000s of years of exposure to other planets and likely warp influences. While I think some other colors could really help make the point that these are chaotic dudes I'm worried about going too far into My Little Pony territory. ;-)

WIP-REVIEW: More scenery for Robotech!
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First update of this year!
I've been building the scenery sets from 4Ground I have so far:
Primera actualización del año!
He estado armando los sets de escen...